Understanding modern technologies and the latest technology phases, isn’t the only things important for teachers. Teachers need to be creative in their teaching and include modern technology into the classroom and the way they teach.

The internet is one of the best resources for teachers as it provides endless amounts of resources. No matter the topic, the internet is guaranteed to have something useful for a teacher’s teaching. Just to name a few teachers can use the internet to access digital information, ideas, online programs, digital materials, and so on. The internet not only provides teachers with resources and information but also allows teachers to connect and communicate.

Today teachers are not restricted to only communicating and connecting with their students when inside the classroom. Teachers can use the internet to connect and communicate with students, parents, the wider school and the community. There is a number of social media applications available for teachers but some of the most popular at present are Twitter, Facebook, Instragram.

The technology tools available to teachers is endless but one great technology tool that is a major hit today is Pinterest. http://www.pinterest.com/

Pinterest is a site where you can pin useful information you find on the internet. There is a number of ways to present information on Pinterest but the most common is photos. The photos are linked to a webpage or a blog post, which provides you with further access to information on the topic you are pinning and directs you to websites and so on.

Pinterest is great for teachers, where they can explore teaching ideas and save those teaching ideas they find useful or a good resource. By pinning through Pinterest, teachers will be able to connect with other teachers and expand their creativity in teaching in this digital world we are living in.

Gone are the days where teachers are limited to chalk and a chalk board for teaching. Modern technology has opened the doors to creative teaching and provides access to an endless variety of information.

It is quite amazing the amount of digital information that is available. Information is no longer limited to text, information is now available in multiple formats some being audio files, videos, images, and web links for example. However precautions need to be taken to ensure the accuracy of the digital information we are accessing online. Digital information is not limited to a single message and the multiple ways it can be presented caters for the different ways people prefer to learn, which does result in multiple ways of understanding and interpreting the digital information we are accessing.

Teachers today have access to a wide variety of useful resources online that can help teachers cater for the needs of all their students. Those teachers who dare to explore and be involved in new technologies will be very successful teachers and connect with their students in a way that they are being involved and interested in the digital world they live in. An essential component of modern day classrooms is the inclusion of digital technologies. As previously discussed in one of my previous blogs, teachers must cater for the digital expectancy that students are provided with experiences and have access to modern technologies to learn and be fluent in.

The Digital World:

Students of today have been born into a digital world, but not all students have access to the same technologies. The digital divide; the gap between those who have access to the internet/ technology and those who do not, needs to bridged and students need to be provided with the experiences necessary to become fluent members in the digital world they are living in.

Technology is constantly involving and the more the world revolves around technology the stronger the digital expectancy is going to become. Digital expectancy is an attitude, and it is not necessarily negative. It is evidence of a positive engagement with the digital world and an eagerness to become a fully participating member of the knowledge-based society (Howell, 2012, p.59).

Schools have been expected to provide students with the latest technology to experience and be fluent in. Parents, employers and the wider community expect the education system to produce technologically fluent students who can use a wide variety of digital technologies, and who can adapt to emerging technologies (Howell, 2013, p.55)

My Reflection on Info-graphic

I produced the ‘Info-graphic’ on Digital Divide using the program ‘Pikochart’. I found this program relatively user friendly and I really enjoyed this task. I enjoyed the many options that were available to create and design a Info-graphic. I utilised my experience using Pikochart by exploring many of the tools available and including a wide range of features in my Info-graphic.

I reviewed a number of other students Info-graphics, finding a wide variety of layouts. My Info-graphics were heavy on information and others were very simple but still expressed the point of digital divide. I found most students included very similar information, beginning their Info-graphics defining ‘Digital Divide’. A number of Info-graphics I reviewed touched on digital expectancy and explained the drivers behind the use of technology in teaching and learning.

This weeks topic is about digital security and exploring the potential events of identity theft. Do we understand digital security and what information about us is available online? Do we understand what identity theft is and the potential impacts it us on our identity?

Teachers in the digital age need to be aware of digital security issues, identify theft, scammers and cyber bullying. Technology is a big thing, which is constantly evolving. The more technology evolves the more we continue to try new technologies and change the way we do things; the way we communicate, the way we store information, the way we shop, the way we pay bills and so on.

Technology is trying to make things easier, quicker and more simplified, but are we exposing ourselves too much and are we understanding and in control of what information about ourselves is out there? We need to understand digital securities and how we can modify our behaviours to have a much safer experience in the digital age. We need to understand what information we put out; for example credit card details when making purchases online, personal details sent in emails and so on, and what information we receive such as emails and is it safe or is it a scam.

I have often sat and thought, we put so much personal information and identification into some of our technology devices and what would we do if they were stolen or a scammer gained access to them. How would we get the information back, how could we stop scammers and hackers from accessing our information?

I explored a news article ‘A thief just made off with your smart phone, now what? This article was very interesting and very true in the respect that it says ‘we trust much of our lives to our mobile devices’. This article raised the questions about what we would do if our mobile devices were stolen and what is some pro-cautions we can take to ensure that if in the event our mobile devices being stolen can they be tracked and is data backed up.

The good news is that location aware features can help find and recover missing devices. Many locating devices can wipe devices clean to keep your personal information out of the wrong hands. Many try to take snapshots of whoever is using your device to identify culprits (Ducan, 2013). However the bad news is that these services are in no way a cure-all for someone who has lost a device or had a device stolen. The real benefit to tracking services may be the ability to remotely wipe your data from the device. As stated in the article, in almost all cases, wiping a device also eliminates the ability to track but it may be the way to safeguard your accounts and services and in event your identity (Ducan, 2013).

See full article http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/can-location-tracking-services-help-recover-your-stolen-smartphone-tablet-or-notebook/#!ERy32

Ducan, G. (2013). A thief just made off with your smart phone, now what. Retrieved from http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/can-location-tracking-services-help-recover-your-stolen-smartphone-tablet-or-notebook/#!ERy32

Welcome to my blog. Let me start by making you all aware that this is literally the first time I have ever blogged. I am actually quite excited and looking forward to this blogging experience, who knows I may just become addicted to blogging and blog all the time.

My blog is an requirement of EDC101 – Living and Learning in the Digital World, assignment 3. Over the next coming weeks I will be blogging to reflect on the content that I will be exploring through this unit and weekly tasks.

So a little about me. I am 23 years old and am studying a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. I study online, while also managing a full time job in Government – one word hectic! It is my dream job to become a teacher in the early years of education and believe it would be a every rewarding job. What is more satisfying then a career where you have the opportunity to teach young children and help them develop the critical skills they require to be successful members in the world they live in. The early years are the most critical years in a child’s development and being able to have the opportunity to make a difference in a child’s critical development period, is quite an exciting and motivating thought.

I will end by saying I am excited to keep blogging and hopefully I can offer you some useful information along the way, about living and learning in a digital world. Happy blogging all. I look forward to connecting and following your blogs.